I’m not positive, but it sounds like he’s on his back, facing the ceiling. His shoulder can’t be more than six inches from me. The warmth from his skin almost reaches my back.
“Yeah. Victor is horrible to Rebecca Norwood. I’ve had to chat with him about it. Twice.”
“Same. The teasing in PE can be brutal.” He takes a deep sigh. “Why do you think he does it?”
I flip over to face him, and tug my eye mask off. “He likes her. Obviously.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I understand what Darius is trying to tell me. Or I think I do.
“Wait, so you’re telling me you have the maturity of a ten-year-old boy?”
He shrugs, sticks his tongue out, and makes a slow fart noise. This doesn’t bode well for me.
When he finishes with the raspberry, I say, “But you’re straight.”
“Says who?”
The bright lights of the parking lot creep through the drawn curtain enough so I can make out his silhouette—he’s still staring at the ceiling.
“You’re the PE teacher. You love sports. You coach hockey, and you . . . yell—all the time. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you without a baseball hat until ten minutes ago when you got naked in front of me.”
“So you make assumptions about people based on societal norms about things like clothes and sports. Got it.”
“Well, didn’t you assume I’m gay because I teach English and co-direct the musical every year?”
“No, Harry. I didn’t. Iknewyou were gay because the first time you ate in the teacher’s lounge, you and Christine had an entire conversation about which Marvelcharacter you’d like to fuck, and you, not surprisingly, picked Wolverine.”
“That doesn’t make me gay. Most straight guys would do Wolverine.”
He lets out a small laugh, and how the hell did I miss this about him?
“You’re not wrong, but it was a pretty good indicator.”
“And who would yours be?” I ask.
I’m on the edge of a cliff, waiting to jump, as I watch his lips and wait for his answer.
“That’s a no-brainer. Spiderman. But mostly for Peter Parker. I like someone smart. Someone who reads lots of books. A real nerd. That’s hot as fuck.”
“Really?” I’m up on one elbow now. “Not Iceman? You literally coach ice hockey.” He’s quiet, so I lie on my back next to him, keeping those few precious inches between us. “Seemed like an obvious choice.”
“Nope.” Now Darius props himself up on an elbow, facing me. As his warm, minty breath grazes my chin, I can’t help but feel a surge of anticipation, causing my pajama pants to tighten. “I’m always going for the geek.”
And with that, Darius brushes the curls away from my forehead and moves his face closer. He’s watching me, and while I’m not sure what’s unfolding, I’m strangely at ease with it.
4
HARRY
“Just to be clear,Spiderman and not . . . Jean Grey? She can read minds. That’s got to come in handy.”
“Nope.” He moves a rogue curl away, keeping his hand on my head. My heart pounds with such intensity, I fear it may rupture through my ribcage.
“Storm? Anyone who can change the weather on a whim would get my vote. We could have snow days on demand.”
“Uh-uh.”
“Black Widow? Scarlett Johansson has made me question my sexuality on multiple occasions. I’m not even a massive Marvel fan, and I streamed that movie three times because of her.”
